The Brief

About 100,000 Californians can expect their phone bills to go up next year if state regulators grant AT&T permission to stop offering a federal service discount for low-income residents.

The federal Lifeline program, which has been running since the '80s, gives eligible customers up to a $9.25 monthly phone service discount and $34.25 off for those on tribal lands.

Advocates say it's a critical service for older adults, people with disabilities and others who live on a fixed income.

AT&T is applying to give up its designation as an “eligible telecommunications carrier,” or ETC, which means it would no longer offer the federal Lifeline program to low-income residents and people who live in remote areas.

An ETC receives financial assistance from the federal government to provide high quality, affordable telephone service to customers of all income levels.

(California has its own subsidy program called LifeLine with a capital “L”, which will not be affected).

About 50 other companies offer federal Lifeline, but so far, advocates say AT&T is the only company in California asking to drop the service.

A spokesperson for AT&T says it wants to be relieved of its ETC designation because of the “FCC’s plans to phase out” the federal Lifeline subsidy. The program is expected to run out of money by December unless lawmakers vote to extend it.

Leaders of the consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network (TURN) say the November presidential election could determine the future of Lifeline, but that funding is likely to be extended, even on a temporary basis.

Landline service

The request comes at the same time AT&T is seeking permission to phase out landline service in California.

For many low-income residents this comes as a double blow — losing the federal discount in addition to losing the less-expensive landline service.

“The passion that folks have in expressing their needs to have this service, it's just been overwhelming,” said TURN attorney Ashley L. Salas.

The California Public Utilities Commission is accepting public input on both cases until a final decision is made this fall.

Public comments

Thousands of residents have weighed in on AT&T’s requests during public comments in person and online. Here’s a selection:

Sara Sunstein of Richmond said she’s a low-income person and “very much appreciates” having Lifeline rates. “What I don't understand is why the rates seem to increase more and more frequently in recent years. Please vote against AT&T's request to stop Lifeline rates that are subsidized by the federal government anyway.”

Suzanne England in Los Angeles said she relies on her landline with its Lifeline discount. “This is a public utility that I expect should be required,” she said. “I depend on this landline and the ‘Lifeline’ discount. Please do not remove this phone option.”

A. Webb Santa Cruz said they live on a tight budget and have struggled with inflation. “From where would I cut my essential spending to pay for a cellphone?! I am fixed on a very low income, and the Lifeline service I have on my landline fully supports my life needs and daily high volume of local calls to my elderly mother whom I look after every day,” they wrote.

To be approved, AT&T must demonstrate that another ETC provider can offer universal support in the areas where it wishes to surrender service. Here is a map of the different service territories that could be impacted.

The next CPUC hearing on AT&T’s plans will be held April 9.

Topline:

The details: Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California allege Michael Angel Alvarez, 41, was an 18th Street gang leader at the same time he worked as a peace ambassador for the nonprofit Healing Urban Barrios. The job focused on reducing tensions and potential violence among gangs in L.A.’s Council District 1.

The backstory: Alvarez was previously convicted of a gang-related murder in 2002 and released from custody in 2024. A spokesperson for Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the district, previously told LAist they were never told of any new allegations against Alvarez prior to his arrest in May.

What the lawyers say: Prosecutors claim in court documents that Alvarez already admitted to law enforcement officers that he was in a leadership position within the gang and had body armor despite his previous murder conviction.

Alvarez’s lawyers have argued in court documents that he did have contact with the 18th Street gang after his release from prison but only because of his employment as a gang violence-reduction worker with Healing Urban Barrios.

Lawyers for Alvarez and the federal government told LAist they would not give further comment on the case Tuesday.

What’s next: A trial date has been set for Aug. 18. Alvarez currently is in federal custody after the court found “by clear and convincing evidence that [he] presents a serious danger to the community,” court records show. Prosecutors wrote in court documents that Alvarez also “knows that he is under investigation for crimes that carry great sentencing exposure,” indicating other charges could be coming.

L.A. resident Jeff van Hoy is setting aside his jerseys and hanging up his scarves after Team USA's brutal 4-1 loss to Belgium last night.

"It feels like Halloween is over," said the diehard American soccer fan, who's been rooting for the national team since it last played on home soil in 1994. "That holiday that you so look forward to celebrating, it's all come and gone. … You have to say goodbye to that aspect of joy for a while."

Van Hoy's team — that eternal underdog, American men's soccer — had a good run. It beat Paraguay in the opening match at SoFi Stadium, making it all look so easy to a local audience more groomed for American football or baseball at Dodger Stadium. The U.S. men came out of the group stage on top, even after a last-minute loss to Turkey, also here in Los Angeles.

Then, they beat Bosnia and Herzegovina. But all that momentum came to naught. The team looked ragged in the Round of 16, bamboozled by a more experienced European team. The moment was further soured after FIFA allowed U.S. striker Folarin Balogun to play despite a red card in the previous match, following an intervention by President Donald Trump.

Watching from Los Angeles, van Hoy was saddened by the loss. But surprised? No way.

"I'm so used to dealing with disappointment," he said in a phone call Tuesday morning. "I try to make sure that I allow myself the joy of hope and excitement when the team is doing well, but I'm always ready for the wheels to come off."

Such is the life of an American soccer fan. With low hopes of seeing the U.S. reach the final, for van Hoy, the World Cup is about his bottomless love of the game — and the buffet of experiences and celebrations that come with the tournament.

A soccer player himself, van Hoy first attended the World Cup when the U.S. hosted the tournament in 1994. He joined his dad at the opening U.S. match against Switzerland in Detroit, which ended in a 1-1 tie. The U.S. went on to defeat top contender Colombia at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, before getting beat in the knockout stage of the tournament.

Van Hoy was enamored. Since then, he's attended four more World Cups, from Germany to South Africa to Brazil and now back in the U.S. again. Along the way, he couch surfed in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where he watched the U.S. tie Italy 1-1 in 2006. He saw a sports journalist wrestle to get his backpack back from a baboon in South Africa in 2010 on his way to the Cape of Good Hope. He was in the crush of fans at a massive fan party on Copacabana Beach in Brazil in 2014.

This World Cup, his first in more than a decade, he went to four matches. Two he attended in Inglewood, just a short trip from his home in Mid City. But seeking that storybook feeling that marked his last few tournaments, van Hoy and his son also took to the road to support their other favorite team, the Netherlands. They drove 22 hours each way to Houston to dance with a sea of Dutch fans clad in orange and watch the Netherlands play Sweden. Then they drove to Tijuana and caught a flight to Monterrey, where they saw the team take on Morocco and lose.

At home, he also enjoyed seeing Los Angeles outside of the stadium, where Angelenos got to experience some soccer madness at city watch parties and fan events, whether they were fans of the sport or not.

Now that the U.S. is out, van Hoy is already looking forward to the next World Cup in 2030. Will the U.S. stand a chance then?

"I thought this was a little too early for us to win the World Cup," he said. "But in five or 10 years, I think we should have a team that's good enough to compete."

In the meantime, he'll be cheering for LAFC here in Los Angeles. There's always the next soccer match.

Boyle Heights families of school age children impacted by the warehouse fire have until Wednesday afternoon to apply for $250 cash assistance payments.

The money comes from the LAUSD Education Foundation’s “compassion fund,” a mixture of donations from individuals and the California Community Foundation.

“ There's tremendous stress and anxiety about how to pay for rent, food [and] childcare,” said Sadie Jefferson, the executive director of the independent nonprofit that frequently supports LAUSD students and programs.

Jefferson said families are reporting asthma flare-ups, missed work and a lack of access to their homes.

An estimated 13,000 Los Angeles Unified families live within two miles of the Boyle Heights warehouse fire. The fire started on June 17 at a refrigerated warehouse owned by a company called Lineage and burned for eight days. The blaze filled the air with acrid smoke and there’s been reports of foul smells, pests and concerns about water-quality as the clean-up continues.

How it works

Families can apply in-person on Wednesday July 8 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at:

• Sunrise Elementary School— 2821 E. 7th St. 
• Humphreys Avenue Elementary School— 500 S. Humphreys Ave.
• Belvedere Middle School— 312 N. Record Ave.

The application requires families to provide a student’s ID.

Families can also connect with district counselors and other resources at those same schools.

Jefferson said the foundation will support more families if more donations to the compassion fund come in.

The foundation started the compassion fund in 2025 to support families in the wake of widespread immigration enforcement actions throughout Southern California.

Jefferson said the Foundation has distributed nearly $900,000 in cash gift-cards from the fund and that most families make less than $20,000 a year.

 ”We wanted to make sure that people had the dignity of choice on how to use the funding in a way that made sense for their families,” Jefferson said.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The IOC advised Olympic sports bodies on Tuesday to end a three-year program vetting Russians for neutral status ahead of qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The move was expected since the International Olympic Committee advised two months ago that athletes from Belarus, Russia's military ally in the full military invasion of Ukraine, should be allowed again to compete with their full national identity.

"The IOC stands in solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine, which the Olympic movement has supported since the beginning of the war, and will continue to do so," the Olympic body said in a statement after a meeting of its executive board.

The IOC eased entry requirements to its own events for Russian athletes and teams while provisionally lifting its suspension since October 2023 of the Russian Olympic Committee.

The terms of that suspension — imposed when the Russian Olympic body incorporated regional sports councils from occupied regions of Ukraine — no longer applied, the IOC said.

Just 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics as approved neutrals, and combined to win five medals. The Russian team had more than 300 athletes at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and won 71 medals.

The IOC did not yet approve letting Russian athletes and teams compete with their flag and anthem. That decision will come "at an appropriate time," it said.

The next Olympic competition is the 2026 Youth Summer Games in Dakar, Senegal opening Oct. 31.

The IOC said to "address the lack of confidence in the global sporting community relating to the return of Russian athletes to international competition," those athletes must give multiple doping controls and be part of a recognized testing program.

The IOC said it will continue to "not organize IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events."

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